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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The Zinkin Recall Petitioner Media Blitz

From December 24th through January 1, Mayor Hiremath headlined a media week-long media blitz. The blitz ended with an appeal for recall signatures.

Here's how it unfolded:

Between December 16 and 18: Zinkin notified by the Northwest Explorer ("local advertising circular ") that an opinion piece supporting his recall will appear in their publication on December 25. At that time, the editor, Thelma Grimes, would not tell Zinkin who is the author of the opinion. Zinkin is told that he will have until December 29 to respond with his own opinion piece.

December 30: TV4 presents unresearched and biased report which features Mayor Hiremath and Council Members Hornat and Snider. They state that they support the recall effort. The video report does not give Zinkin equal time to respond.

December 30: Zinkin is informed by Thelma Grimes, the editor of the local advertising circular, that she has accepted an advertisement seeking his recall and that this advertisement will be placed next to his opinion piece.

January 1: Zinkin's opinion piece and the ad against him appear side-by-side in the local advertising circular. That, friends, is pathetic journalism.

January 1: Thelma Grimes, editor of the local advertising circular, publishes her opinion. The piece speaks mostly of the recall effort and of some of the assertions against Zinkin.

Next, we expect that some town employee will suddenly file a grievance against Zinkin for an alleged event that occurred at least a year ago.

You will be contacted to sign their petition for recall. This is, after all, the entire purpose of their effort.

What should you ask the recall petitioner?

You should know with whom you are dealing. Ask the petitioner for their name and address?" If they are willing to give you their name and address, please feel free to pass along to us. If they're not willing to give it to you, then perhaps you shouldn't be signing a document that requires your name and address. Also, you should confirm that they are a resident of Oro Valley.

Ask if they are being paid to solicit my signature? It is a very common practice for petitioners to hire third parties to solicit signatures.

Look at the petition. Read what it says. Be sure you know which version of the recall they are asking you to sign. To our knowledge, there are 3 versions.

You should know why they are doing this. Ask them, what is this recall about and why is it necessary? The petition should have the reason. If if does not, it is illegal. If it does, ask them to provide details around each point. For example:

What has Council Member Zinkin known that is so egregious that he should incur recall?

Have there been any grievances filed against Zinkin? (Anwer is "no")

How many cases have actually been filed against Zinkin? (Answer is "no")

I didn't notice it either and neither did my husband when he read it right after I did. We found out about the ad when one of our friends sent us an e-mail asking us what we thought of it. We had to go back and look at it again and THAT'S when we saw it. They would have been smarter to place the ad elsewhere where it wouldn't be vying for attention alongside something else that many were waiting to see. Their efforts keep backfiring on them.

As usual everybody is missing the point. As I have posted and attempted to educate you, yes all of you, this recall effort has nothing to do with Mr. Zinkin's unfiltered thought process.

It is all about the Oro Valley Police Department and money.

Mr. Zinkin is attempting to provide oversight to a department which, apparently, has no oversight.

If I were the Police Chief, or, god forbid, the police union, I would welcome any audit or management study of my department. I would welcome any outside advice on how to save the tax payer's money or improve my operations to provide better protection to my community.

This is not the case in Oro Valley, any hint of review or management oversight is greeted with tactics which cannot be characterized in print.

Let me be blunt. If no police officer is overcharging the city for overtime, then what does the police department have to hide? If no police official is abusing the take home vehicle policy, then what does the police department have to hide? If there is nothing to hide, why is there resistance to review? Why is the mayor and his....well, lackeys, afraid of oversight? Is someone's hand in the till? The taxpayers deserve an answer.

Nombe, as I have tried to educate you, indeed, all LOVE participants, it is NOT just about the police department (but yes about money.)

It is about the proclivities and propensities of ALL bureaucracies, whereby they gain a life of their own, and eventually devolve into entities where self-preservation becomes priority one, and self-interest overrides all other interests. You may be the exception to the rule ("If I were Police Chief...."), but most people fall prey to this human failing. That is why the residents of TOV MUST be vigilant, and rein in the bureaucracies for ALL departments, not just the PD.

Yes. You are correct, organizations, be they governmental or private do have certain proclivities. That is why leadership is so critical. A wise leader keeps the organization focused on mission and productive activities. (not the case in OV)

But in l'affair Zinkin it appears that his poor communication skills and "old school" comments are being used by the mayor and his cronies to cover the real cause behind the recall effort.

Christopher is correct. All organisms have as their first duty their self-preservation. The key element in effective organizations is leadership. From my view our council has taken on the character of a junior high school cafeteria. The mayor needs to lead the council to focus on what they were elected to do which is to improve the community and the lives of its citizens.

Just had the opportunity to read some of the source materials that the recall effort cites in support of their position. Off track here, but in one of them, Greg Caton, in an e-mail response to one of the female employees who filed a complaint against Zinkin, writes "during our regularly scheduled bi-weekly meeting...." Can I assume, then, that this complainant was NOT a member of the PD?

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